1951 in literature
The year 1951 in literature involved some significant events and new books. Events *E. E. Cummings and Rachel Carson are awarded Guggenheim Fellowships. *Flannery O'Connor is diagnosed with lupus. *Anthony Powell produces the first novel of his A Dance to the Music of Time duodecalogy. *Arthur C. Clarke publishes "The Sentinel", the story that will form the basis for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. *First appearance of Dennis the Menace comic strip in The Beano. *Janie Moore, C. S. Lewis's adoptive mother, dies. *James Clavell marries actress April Stride, who introduces him to the movie business. *Joe Orton enters the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. New books *Sholem Asch - Moses *Isaac Asimov **''Foundation'' **''The Stars Like Dust'' *Ray Bradbury - The Illustrated Man *Gill Hunt - Galactic Storm *Taylor Caldwell - The Balance Wheel *Morley Callaghan - The Loved and the Lost *Truman Capote - The Grass Harp *John Dickson Carr - The Devil in Velvet *Agatha Christie **''The Under Dog and Other Stories'' **''They Came to Baghdad'' *Arthur C. Clarke - Prelude to Space *Robertson Davies - Tempest-Tost *L. Sprague de Camp **''Rogue Queen'' **''The Undesired Princess'' *August Derleth - The Memoirs of Solar Pons *Owen Dodson - Boy at the Window *Daphne du Maurier - My Cousin Rachel *Howard Fast - Spartacus *Per Anders Fogelström - Sommaren med Monika *Henri René Guieu - Le Pionnier de l'atome *Graham Greene - The End of the Affair *John Hawkes - The Beetle Leg *Robert A. Heinlein - The Puppet Masters *James Jones - From Here to Eternity *Nikos Kazantzakis - The Last Temptation of Christ *A.M. Klein - The Second Scroll *Louis L'Amour - The Rustlers of the West Fork *C. S. Lewis - Prince Caspian *John Masters - Nightrunners of Bengal *François Mauriac - Le Sagouin *James A. Michener - Return to Paradise *Nancy Mitford - The Blessing *Nicholas Monsarrat - The Cruel Sea *Alberto Moravia - The Conformist (Il conformista) *John O'Hara - Butterfield 8'' *Anthony Powell - A Question of Upbringing *J.D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye *Ooka Shohei - Fires on the Plain *Vern Schneider - The Teahouse of the August Moon *Cardinal Spellman - The Foundling *John Steinbeck - The Log from the Sea of Cortez *Rex Stout **''Curtains for Three'' **''Murder by the Book'' *William Styron - Lie Down in Darkness *Elizabeth Taylor - A Game of Hide and Seek *Phoebe Atwood Taylor - Diplomatic Corpse *Josephine Tey - The Daughter of Time *Anne de Tourville - Jabadao *Mika Waltari - The Wanderer *Herman Wouk - The Caine Mutiny *John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids *Frank Yerby - A Woman Called Fancy *Marguerite Yourcenar - Mémoires d'Hadrien New drama *Eugène Ionesco - La Leçon *A.A. Milne - Before the Flood *Lawrence Riley - Kin Hubbard *Jean-Paul Sartre - The Devil and the Good Lord *John Van Druten - I Am a Camera *Tennessee Williams - The Rose Tattoo Poetry *Frank O'Hara - A City Winter and Other Poems *Clark Ashton Smith - The Dark Chateau Non-fiction *Rachel Carson - The Sea Around Us *Nirad C. Chaudhuri - The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian *Thomas B. Costain - The Magnificent Century (Second book in the Plantagenet or Pageant of England Series) *Vladimir Nabokov - Speak, Memory *Lou Andreas-Salomé - Lebensrückblick (posthumously published) Births *January 13 - Nigel Cox, New Zealand novelist *August 20 - Greg Bear, American science fiction author *August 24 - Orson Scott Card, American science fiction author *September 20 - Javier Marías, Spanish novelist *October 12 - Peter Flannery, English dramatist *October 17 - Clark Parent, Haitian novelist, musician and politician *December 8 - Bill Bryson, American travel writer *December 22 - Charles de Lint, Canadian fantasy author & Celtic folk musician *''date unknown'' - Jagadish Mohanty, Indian novelist Deaths *January 7 - René Guénon, French philosophical writer (b. 1886) *January 29 - James Bridie, Scottish dramatist (b. 1888) *February 7 - Sinclair Lewis, American novelist (b. 1885) *February 13 - Lloyd C. Douglas, American author (b. 1877) *February 19 - André Gide, French author (b. 1869) *March 25 - Oscar Micheaux, African-American author & filmmaker (b. 1884) *April 29 - Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher (b. 1889) *June 11 - W.C. Sellar, Scottish humorist (b. 1898) *August 14 - William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper tycoon (b. 1863) *September 2 - Antoine Bibesco, Romanian dramatist (b. 1878) *December 4 - Pedro Salinas, Spanish poet (b. 1891) *December 10 - Algernon Blackwood, English writer (b. 1869) Awards * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Cynthia Harnett, The Wool-Pack *Frost Medal: Wallace Stevens *James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Chapman Mortimer, Father Goose *James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Noel Annan, Leslie Stephen *Newbery Medal: Elizabeth Yates, Amos Fortune, Free Man *Nobel Prize in Literature: Pär Lagerkvist *Premio Nadal: Luis Romero, La noria *Pulitzer Prize for Drama: no award given *Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Conrad Richter, The Town *Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Carl Sandburg, Complete Poems External links * Category:Years in literature Category:History of literature Category:Literature by year